Short hops and hard knocks with Red Sox beat writer Ian Browne.

On a different planet

I know a lot of you always think I’m on a different planet, but today I am actually in Jupiter, not to be confused with Mars.

OK, Jupiter, Florida. It was an interesting drive across Lake Okeechobee. Well, not really but I stayed awake for it.

Jason Bay and David Ortiz worked out in Fort Myers today, returning from their respective losses in the World Baseball Classic. They will both be in there against the Yankees on Friday night.

By now, you’ve probably heard that Jonathan Papelbon ripped Manny Ramirez for being a bad teammate in a magazine interview. This isn’ t exactly a news flash. If Manny had been on board with what the Red Sox were doing, he wouldn’t have been traded. They didn’t trade him because of his hitting. As Papelbon said in a text message to his buddies at Comcast SportsNet, “That old news story was four months ago. I’m not saying anything else, but I’m also not taking back anything I have said already.”

Anyway, on to matters that actually happened in Jupiter, Beckett was lights out again. Four shutout innings. Masterson fired zeroes for two innings. It was another tough day for prospect Michael Bowden, who allowed two runs and now has a 13.50 ERA in camp. Bowden has pitched in four games and given up nine runs.

“He just needs the ability to go out and pitch a number of innings,” said Red Sox pitching coach John Farrell. “Right now, with him as a career starter, routines are disrupted. He’s aware of that. Unfortunately he doesn’t have the benefit of being able to start a ballgame and go, here, here’s three or four innings for you and go settle into a rhythm. Even though today, i think he did a much better job getting into that rhythm. His strengs and attributes are certainly durability, being able to pitch a high number of innings and he’s in a situation where he’s trying to make an impression. He’s clearly a depth starter for us. And we’re getting him the work when it becomes avialable.”

Offensively speaking, not much to report today. Outfield prospect Josh Reddick had three hits from the leadoff spot and is hitting .500 this spring. Julio Lugo was 1-for-2, and has a .450 average.

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53 Comments

Hey there Ian!! Will you be making the trip to Fort Lauderdale this Saturday?? I have left field grandstand tickets… (you could only get reserved seating if you bought a four pack of Oriole tix and I couldnt go to the ones during the week).. I could be seated right behind Mikey!! If you are going to be there, look us up!!
Do you know who might be starting in that game?? That’s a nice park in Jupiter. We were there a couple of years ago.. Have a good day, it’s gorgeous here again.

REPEAT FROM PRIOR THREAD
Greg,
I’ve got to respect Sir Sidney at least a little bit for having guts (not his profile!) Last year he always took the ball in his regular turn for the Yanks even though he got absolutely shelled in half of his starts!!!

Vulcan Bob, I was under the impression that Ponson may have had a contract that had a minimum innings pitched stipulation.. Still it takes a lot of guts (he’s ok there) to go out there start after start and try your best

Julia… there’s a time and a place for everything, and I think the time has passed for guys to be shooting their mouths off about Zazu…. Especially if he hadnt said anything to Zazu to his face at the time (last summer)…

If Pap wants to shoot off his mouth, I don’t have a real problem with that. Everything he said about the Zazu situation is probably true. However, he should not have mentioned Tek or Ortiz or even Francona. That can put them in an awkward position……. especially Ortiz if he and Zazu were close. Time to move on. Zazu is gone and like I’ve said before, that’s a tragedy. He could have been placed on a pedestal with Yaz and Ted Williams, had his number retired, and worshipped like a god in Boston forever. He was a huge part of Red Sox history, and will now never likely enjoy the fruits of it all. And we, as Red Sox fans, have been deprived of a genuine sports hero who might have appeared on the Boston version of Mount Rushmore. It’s too bad, for Zazu, the Red Sox, and us.

I know this is just Spring Training, but Josh Beckett appears to be a “man on a mission!” Recognizing that I cannot see his actual performance, they have all looked to be pretty strong coming across the “computer wire.” In view of his performance, Jon L’s, Clay B’s and Justin M’s, the starting rotation looks to be shaping up pretty well, not even counting Wake, Penny, Dice-K or Smoltzie. By the same token, it seems as though Mike Bowden needs some more seasoning. Hopefully, he will find it in Pawtucket so the Sox can call him up if they need to.

I’ve got to say, again, recognizing this is only ST, the Sox depth looks incredible. Beyond the pitching staff (I haven’t even mentioned the possibility of bringing up either Hunter Jones or Daniel Bard if the Sox need bullpen help) the Sox look to have a lot of help, in the persona of Chris Carter, Jeff Bailey and Nick Green (not to mention Lars Anderson who has struggled thus far in ST), should the Sox encounter a power outage with Big Papi, or an infielder injury, particularly with Jed Lowrie or Mikey Lowell. Even though they are not winning most of their ST ballgames, I do like the way they are shaping up.

Another great outing by Beckett and Masterful. I don’t care about W/L in ST games. I do care about who lost the games. If I remember correctly most if not all the Sox games were lost or blown by pitchers who have slim chance of making to the Red Sox anyway.

Andy, also keep in mind that very few of the regulars are playing very often. The one who is playing who does concern me is Tek. He’s having a miserable spring. The thing I’m happiest about is that none of the pitchers we expect to be there every day seem to be having any post performance problems or issues.

Today’s positives also include the bats of Lugo and Reddick. Both had clutch two out RBIs. And Reddick was 3 for 4 while Lugo had a hit and a walk in three trips. Jeff has Reddick slotted to be Drew’s replacement in the future and he sure looks on track!

I see Beckett and Masterson did a FINE job against the Cards today. If our guys stay healthy and performe like this, we’ll have a FINE year!
Bob, I hear you about Ponson. He did great in the WBC. If he had done anything close to that in the Majors (with the Yankees or anyone else!), he’d be one of the best-known players in the Majors–for the RIGHT reasons!
You guys are right, Pap, like Manny, needs to just put a sock (preferably Red) in it, and go out and pitch. If he keeps this kind of yappin up, HE won’t be around very long, either!
Hey, Pap, it’s OLD NEWS!

Thanks Bob… That means with my luck it’ll be Lugo in there!!! But I will enjoy the day with my husband. The last time we saw the Sox together it was in Port St Lucie v the Cards… We had “reserved SRO tickets… good game and a great day. I do hope that I get to see JBay and Mikey… have never seen Jason u c and p (up close and personal)he’s got a great swing!

Ellen: “SRO reserved tickets”–sounds like a contradiction in terms! ;)
I agree Ellen, a bad ST (W/L terms) often means a very good year–and we hadn’t been plying with Papi, Youk, or Dustin! Since most of the losses have been with players who are auditioning for the team, anyway, and likely will not be on the Opening Day roster, I don’t worry too much about the W/L (although I want to see them do well, and progress!). Let’s see how we do (esp for Julia’s wager!) against the Yankees on Fri.! GO SOX!

Thanks – I need the help! THE RED SOX HAVE TO WIN TOMORROW!!!!! GO SOX!!!!! AND when the Red Sox win tomorrow – you have to go to that “Yankees fan” blog on Saturday! and comment on his great Red Sox writing! (Don’t worry – you’ll find the link on mine!!!) He already “stole” some of my post today! lol!

I agree with your opinion about Beckett. I think he’ll look like the Beckett of 2007. Beckett is healthy this time of year, unlike last year at this time. Beckett was hurt pretty much the entire season in 2008. He battled all sorts of injuries. He seemed too never get going.

Bowden’s March so far has stunk. No results at all. I think right now he is probably pressing out there, trying too make the perfect pitch. As D. Benjamin said, Bowden gives the Red Sox depth this year. I’m guessing he’ll make some starts this year in a Boston uniform.

Lugo continues too hit and that is nothing but a good thing. That should ease his mind. When I went down too Fort Meyers ( Sox minor league complex ) I got off the bus at 8:50 a.m. and Lugo was taking groundballs at one of the fields. Not one other player was around. I’ll give Lugo credit, he was working hard with the Sox new 1st base coach. I know you folks probably want me drug tested for writing some nice things about Lugo…Someone has too say something nice about Lugo on here. LOL!!

Hey, Ellen, did anyone at the park today have a “Mike Lowell Fan Club” sign? Or was there a banner all the way around the park? ;) Someone needs to get one for Fenway! (If I were there, I’d do it!) ;)
Brian, there’s no denying it–Lugo has come to ST playing like HE ALSO is on a mission. I will give him credit for that ANY DAY–and happy to do it! I hope he keeps it up into the regular season, so he actually EARNS his salary this year! GO SOX!

Greg…
Hope all is well with you.
So far so good on Lugo in the month of March. He certainly hasn’t earned any of that money but could this season. Lugo could have a good 1st half and maybe Boston could unload him in late July, there is always a sucker around come trading deadline. lol. Then again maybe they hold on too him. Time will tell, we can speculate of course. That is the fun of it.

Greg – I’ll have a song up tomorrow as I reconfirm that it is indeed “game on” for the Yankees game! Though I think I need to find a Toby Keith one! Got to keep the theme going for this bet! Might use Journey for the April bet!

When i try to get on to the brownie’s brigade site using this URL — http://www.santoro-law.com/Brownie — all i get is a bunch of weird HTML codes. I don’t see any of the photos or any of the other stuff i’ve heard you guys talk about.

Ian, are you using Firefox, or Mozilla, or any other firewall? I think you need to disable such, or use Internet Explorer to do so (Julia of “Julia’s Rants” had that problem). Maybe that will help. Hope you can–we’re a FINE LOOKING BUNCH on there!

I have to teach today – so I won’t be back till later……BUT Toby Keith is up on my blog now cheering our Red Sox on to victory over the evil empire tonight! (Sorry Vulcan Bob!) Cheer loud – I don’t want to write about the Yankees tomorrow! And I asked the question – Did Scott forget that “She’s From Boston”??

Garry:
I share your concern about Tek. It appears that Tek’s misery will likely continue into the regular season. If it?s up to me I?ll let the young catchers taking up bulk of the catching duties and make Tek a catching coach mentoring the young catchers. Let Tek catch against a weaker team. Why waste an AB? I?ll say it again Tek?s so-called intangibles are overrated unless this was 2005.

Brian:
We have been poking fun at Lugo all along. Hey, we can?t fault the guy for trying hard. As I have said, sometimes the best comes out of the least expected. Let?s see what Lugo can do once the season starts. I am fine with either Lugo or Lowrie as a starting SS.

I have berated Lugo as much, if not more than anyone here. I did however state a few weeks or more back, that if you look back over his career, he has had some really solid years and his lifetime stats are not that bad!! Hopefully he’ll find his footing and confidence again…

Sorry, Andy, we’re still gonna disagree on Tek. My take is (still) that it is BECAUSE of Tek’s “So-called intangibles” that we need Tek, for at least this year. The Red Sox pitchers seem to concur! Tek may be an empty spot in the lineup–maybe he’ll put together a decent year, maybe not, at the plate. I still do not see Bard or Kottaras or any other catcher presently on the staff being a better bat in the lineup, either. So…I’ll take Tek for this year. (Besides, if Tek’s “intangibles” are that overrated, why have him mentor and coach anyone????) Hmmm…Sorry, Andy, not buying it.

Ellen, you’re certainly right that Lugo had good stats before in his career before he signed with us. That’s what prompted the FO to sign him in the first place. We certainly need to hope that Lugo keeps up this pace, and actually EARNS his salary this year. Lowrie is not exactly showing he’s ready for prime time, yet.

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